Las Vegas Car Insurance Laws - Injury Lawyer

Las Vegas Car Insurance Laws - Injury Lawyer

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One of the things I'm often asked by clients, or people in general, is, "How much insurance should I have? What are the Las Vegas car insurance laws?" That has actually been set by statute. In order to drive legally in Nevada, you have to have at least $15,000 per person in liability coverage. It's funny, that limit was set back in 1958, when the dollar went a lot further than it does now. I encourage all my clients, and everyone I talk to, to get higher limits. It doesn't cost much more; usually just a few dollars more per month can dramatically increase your liability coverage. The other thing that you need to remember, though, is we're having a severe economic crisis in this country, and Nevada has been hit particularly hard. Conservative estimates are that 1 in 6 drivers don't even have car insurance right now. That means that if you're hit by somebody and you're hurt and they don't have coverage, typically they don't have any assets, so you're not going to be able to get any money from that person or that person's insurance company, because it doesn't exist, and you're going to be on the hook for all your medical bills and all your problems, and the cost of your vehicle.

So I encourage all of my clients to get what's called "Uninsured Motorist Protection". Simply stated, that just means that if I get hit by somebody that doesn't have insurance, my insurance company is going to step in and cover it as if they insure that other person. Uninsured motorist carries another benefit: If I'm hit by somebody that has insurance but doesn't have much, and it isn't enough to cover all my harms and my losses, I can turn to my uninsured carrier, and they supplement the insurance the other driver has. It becomes under-insured coverage. I encourage everyone to talk to their insurance agent, and he or she will answer all those questions in more detail, but uninsured motorist is definitely something everybody should have.

One of the questions that I'm asked all the time is, "How can I afford a Las Vegas injury attorney?". Personal injury attorneys work a little differently than most attorneys. We charge a contingency fee basis as opposed to an hourly rate. If you've ever been to an attorney before, most attorneys charge you $300 - $500 per hour and make you give them a retainer up front and then draw against that retainer. And then when the retainer runs out they ask you to write them another check, and as you can imagine, many people can't afford to do that. Personal injury attorneys work a little differently. We work on what is called a contingency fee basis, and that means that our fee is contingent on getting money for our clients. If I spend 1000 hours on a client's case, but don't get that client any money, the client doesn't owe me anything for my time. We have a strong incentive to get the most money for every client, and we do that anyway, but, obviously, the more money we get for our clients, the higher our fee goes. It's a good situation for most of our clients because they can't afford to write that check up front, and they're generally very pleased with the outcome.

One of the things that I tell all my clients to be aware of are the so-called, "discount firms" that charge a discounted contingency fee. In Las Vegas the standard contingency fee is one-third (33.3%), but there are some firms that advertise less. One of the things you need to watch out for is hidden fees (or hidden charges). Typically those lawyers will charge you for things that other lawyers won't. They'll charge you for a percentage of the property damage that's recovered. Most reputable firms here in Las Vegas don't charge for property damage. They'll also take a percentage of the medical payments coverage that was obtained, and that's money that you would have gotten anyway (even without an attorney). The other thing I always tell me clients is, "If you're dealing with a discounted fee, you're usually going to get discounted service too." So be careful because you get what you pay for.

Many people ask me, "What information should I look for, what research should I do before I hire a Las Vegas personal injury lawyer?" Obviously, a referral from a trusted source is always the best way to go, but sometimes you don't have that luxury. What I recommend my clients do is do a Google search on a lawyer that you're thinking about meeting with first, just to see what you can find out (you might be surprised). There are good things on there, but there could be some bad things, and it's up to you, and you can ask the attorney about those thing. The other thing that I encourage people to do is, when they're meeting with a client, ask the attorney, "What is the extent of your involvement going to be on my case? What are you going to do personally?" At our firm, I don't do everything. I don't request the records from the hospital. I don't put the address on the letter and drop it in the mail box. But I do the important things. I deal with the insurance companies, and I talk to the adjusters. I answer all the legal questions. You want to make sure that you have somebody like that; somebody who's qualified to be handling the aspect of the case that they're handling. You don't want some high-school graduate who is 19 years old negotiating with an insurance company on your behalf, but unfortunately there are firms out there that do that.

The other thing that I encourage clients to ask their lawyer is, "How many lawsuits have you filed, and how many lawsuits does your firm file?" Insurance companies keep track of those things. If a personal injury attorney never files a lawsuit, the offers go lower and lower and lower, because the insurance company's not going to respect that law firm. You want an experienced litigator, who's done it before and can tell you what to expect, leading the charge.

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If you are interested in learning more about: <a href="http://www.hennessandhaight.com/types-of-cases/automobile-accidents";>Las Vegas Car Insurance Laws</a>, then visit the Henness and Haight Injury Attorneys' site and learn more about these <a href="http://www.hennessandhaight.com";>Las Vegas Injury Attorneys</a> now!



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